Fig. 8.— hands Dry-pointing. 

 From a Dry -Point by Sir Francis Seymour Haden. 



C. DRY-POINT. 



Process. 



In this process the line is incised or scratched on the plate by a solid 

 piece of steel sharpened like a pencil. The method in which the dry- 

 point is used is illustrated in a print by Sir Francis Seymour Haden 

 (fig. 8). The point is drawn across the plate like a pencil, not, like 

 the graver, pushed before the hand. The metal displaced from the furrow 

 is thrown entirely to the side (not partly in front of the point as in work 

 with the graver), and the hurr is in consequence considerably greater. 

 It is not for the most part scraped away as in line-engraving, as one of 

 the sx3ecial qualities aimed at by this process is the rich velvety tone 

 added thereby to the lines. The curl of metal is naturally very delicate, 

 and the great pressure of printing soon flattens it down, so that the real 

 effect of a dry-point can only be seen in early impressions, fifty impres- 

 sions, or little more, being often enough to weaken the effect. 



The process is used so constantly in conjunction with etching, that 

 drtj-points are often included in the general term of etching, but we have 

 described the process separately as more strictly akin to engraving. 



History. 



The earliest prints which were scratched in a manner akin to that of 

 dry-point, even if the actual dry-point tool was not used, are those of the 

 anonymous German Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet (worked 

 about 1480). He is also called the ' Master of the Hausbuch,' from his 



